Is this really a Game?!

A stunned silence fell over the group as Reign’s words sank in, the implication behind them almost suffocating. The Hell Trials were real, not mere simulations as the trials before them. If what Reign suspected was indeed true, then all the opponents they had faced so far were real beings, including the giants they had first faced, the abominations, everything.

But then, were the locations real as well?

That couldn’t be true as the ranch was simply too weird to be real, not to mention that the lake had suddenly appeared nearby and was not present before, as was the forest. Was the system somehow bringing beings into a simulated space it had created, or in the case of the forest and the wolf, did it bring an entire area for the trial?

"So … that is the reason why death is true in the Hell Trials, it’s because they are not simulations, but real places, real enemies that we have gone up against."

"But … can the system truly do that … just bring over monsters and beasts to fight against us?" Beast suddenly asked, his voice full of unease.

"I mean, doesn’t that mean the system kidnapped them, wasn’t the system neutral, why would it do such a thing?"

"That is not necessarily true, it might have sent them over voluntarily, maybe it was a form of a challenge for the monsters as well, maybe they would have gained immense benefits and improved considerably, perhaps even evolved, had they managed to kill us." Reign said with a calm expression on his face.

"Which means," Laura added, her voice low, "if that wolf survives... it’s still out there, somewhere."

The air in the room seemed to grow colder at her words. The team exchanged uneasy glances, but some of them were seemingly happy, however. Reign, for one, had a slight smile on his face. The wolf was alive, which meant that in the future, he could do what he promised to do, to kill it.

It wouldn’t be easy to find the wolf in the vast universe, hell, it might die before Reign found it, but he was sure he could do so. He was a Nephilim after all, and once he became a Transcendent, he could ask Eldar or the others for pointers, for a way to try and locate someone in the universe, in fact, he might even be able to ask Raziel himself.

The Immortal was the oldest, as well as most powerful existence in the universe, he was told that time and time again, so locating a single being in the universe, one that was less than an ant to him, should be easy.

"So, does that mean that we just made ourselves a very powerful enemy in that wolf?" Laura asked as the others exchanged grim looks.

"Not just an enemy," Shadow said, pushing himself up from where he had been resting on the floor. "A predator that knows our scent. It can track us, and if it’s truly determined, it won’t stop until it finds us again."

The group exchanged uneasy glances. The wolf’s final words, its promise of revenge, echoed in each of their minds. For a moment, they had thought they were free of its terrifying presence, but now, it seemed that their encounter was just the beginning.

Tank let out a heavy sigh, his massive frame slumping as he leaned on his warhammer. "We’re not ready to face that thing again. Not as we are now."

Reign nodded grimly. "I agree. If we were to fight it again right now, even at full strength, we might still lose. But this isn’t over yet. We need to get stronger—far stronger."

Mia, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke up. "But how? We’ve pushed ourselves to our limits, evolved, grown more powerful than we ever thought possible... and yet, we were still nearly wiped out."

"Guys, why are you speaking like we will face the wolf soon?" Beast asked before sighing.

"Who knows where exactly that wolf is, what planet he is in."

"For all we know, it might be millions of light years away from us, who is to say that we will ever see that thing again?"

"I don’t know, things like these have a way of happening, laws of attraction and all of that." Reign stated with a smile.

"But you are right, if we do come across the wolf again, it will probably be many years in the past, who knows just how many years, decades, or perhaps centuries might pass until then."

And with that, Reign got up from the floor as the white room started dissipating, blurring, before they were suddenly expelled and found themselves in their accommodations in the arena.

[ Hell Trial has been cleared, congratulations to the players, bonus rewards will be given to you. ]

[ Two days in the training room have been given to the team. ]

"Hmmm … two days, not too bad." Reign stated as he shook his head before glancing at the others.

"We rest, train, then rest a bit more and then go to the next trial, how does that sound?"

"Good, it sounds good," Shadow said before he collapsed on the sofa, exhaling sharply.

"Feels so good to sit down and relax again after all of that."

he group collectively let out a sigh of relief. The hellish trial was over. For now, at least, they had earned a reprieve. The tension that had gripped them for so long seemed to lift, and the air around them in their accommodations in the arena was breathable again. Shadow’s words resonated with all of them. After what they’d been through, rest was a luxury they could no longer take for granted. Continue your journey on empire

Reign glanced around the room, taking stock of his team. Despite their exhaustion, their eyes were alight with determination. They were battered, bruised, and drained, but not broken. The trial had pushed them to their limits, revealing not only their strengths but also the gaps in their abilities. Those gaps were what gnawed at him.

"Alright," Reign said, rolling his shoulders to ease the tension there. "We’ve got two days in the training room. We make the most of it. We sharpen our skills, recover our strength, and prepare for whatever comes next."

Laura nodded, her eyes still flickering faintly with residual energy. "We were caught off guard by that wolf. It was... beyond anything we’ve faced so far. We need to anticipate that there will be more enemies like that—intelligent, ruthless, and adaptive."

Shadow, still sprawled on the sofa, raised a hand in lazy agreement. "You think that was just a one-time thing? Hell no. If the system can throw something like that at us, it means there’s a lot more of those monsters out there. Maybe stronger."

The thought sent a chill through the room. They had assumed, naively perhaps, that their trials would follow some predictable path of increasing difficulty. But the wolf had shattered that illusion. It was a living, breathing reminder that the universe had no intention of letting them win easily.

Tank finally spoke up, his deep voice steady and calm. "Then we don’t take any chances. We prepare as if that wolf, or something even worse, could come at us in the next trial. We can’t afford another close call like that."

"If something like the final form of that wolf does come after us, then we will die, even if we go all out and are at our peak states, that much is certain." Reign said nonchalantly as the others glanced at him with sharp looks.

"What, it’s true, there’s no way we can win against something as powerful as that, even that bastard, Radagan, would have to take the wolf seriously."

"You really think that wolf was that strong, on par with Radagan?" Jin asked as Reign shook his head.

"Radagan destroyed us all in mere moments after using his full power, hell, that might not have been his full strength, just him fighting seriously, so no, even though we are stronger now, we would still not last long against him."

"The wolf is strong and would definitely push Radagan a bit, causing him to fight seriously, but I doubt that the wolf is on par with Radagan, it would definitely lose in the end, and I doubt Radagan would even get seriously injured."

"But that’s the thing, all of us together can’t go up against Radagan when he fights seriously, and yet that wolf would definitely be able to withstand it for a bit."

"So, this is truly the second being of our tier that we have come across that eclipses us completely," Shadow said before sighing.

"You know, I thought we had come across a being that is stronger than us individually in the same tier, not one that is that much more powerful."

"I know, but I’m sure of it, even all of us combined would have barely been able to wound that wolf, which means we need to train a lot more, starting tomorrow, right now we shall rest."